Where were the glowsticks?

This weekend we decided we need to get out and see another city here in Chile.  We didn't want to venture too far because of our planned disco night with a guy from the refinery.  Yes, you read that right...more on that to come.  We took a train to Valparaiso and then a bus to Casablanca.  You see, I was in charge of planning this little day excursion so I researched things in the area and talked to the hotel.  We even asked the very nice lady at the wine shop (she always gives us free samples which is a major plus) for recommendations of wineries.  I had everything figured out, but no where could I find a map of the city.  Now we know why.  There's not much there.  Casablanca Valley is basically just a few wineries.  Two different people told us to go to Casas del Bosque Winery and that it was "right by the bus drop off".  Not so much.  The six of us walked down this country road - with nothing around - for about 30 mins before we finally found it.  Made it just in time for a tour and tasting with another group of 6 ( two of them were from Brisbane, Australia - I told them how great their city was).  The wine was excellent and we even got to try a 5th kind, Carmenere, for FREE since I had a coupon on a brochure.  It's a type of grape that originated in France but can now only be found in Chile.  I may not have had a map to the town, but I had a coupon for an extra wine tasting.  That's how I roll.   

After the wine tasting, we realized it would only be 1,200 Pesos - about $3 for a taxi back to where we started.  We figured that wasn't going to break the bank and instead of walking forever down the country road, we made it back to the bus stop just in time to grab something for lunch and head back.  We had big plans for the evening....

random people (and Shannon in the right corner) dancing the night away


Louis, one of the guys at the refinery, wanted to take us out dancing and show us what it's like to be out all hours of the night in Vina del Mar.  I was totally for that until I realized the dance club, OVO Discotheque (pronounced Disco Tech) didn't open until Midnight.  Holy cow.  After the winery tour, I took a nap.  I felt old, but there was no way I was going to last that long if we didn't even go to the club until 12am but we didn't want to disappoint Louis.  He would think that Americans don't know how to party, when in fact....we do.  We met at his apartment, which is actually very close to the hotel, around 10:30pm.  I was already yawning and in need of caffeine.  We hung out at his place with a few of his friends (only one spoke English, but we managed to make conversation with everyone).  Finally about 12:30am, we started walking to the club which is inside the Casino.  That's the place to be on Saturday nights.  It was busy, but by the time we left at 3:00am, the place was packed.  I guarantee you that 85% (and I'm being generous) of the people there didn't speak English, yet they know how to rock out to 80s  - Michael Jackson and Madonna.  Since it was all techno, I was very disappointed I left my glowsticks at home....

 all of us hanging out at Louis' (in between Jason and Vito) apartment pre-disco tech

Needless to say, we all took it easy today, but it was pretty fun to see how Chileans party.....alllll niiight long.  Now I know why they don't eat dinner until at least 10pm.